WTF is a Thunderbolt?
WTF is a Thunderbolt, and why is everyone pretending it's an acceptable word? Thunder is a sound. It is not a bolt. Lightning comes in bolts. How is everyone okay with this?
Curtis Jones
PayPal Fail
It seems PayPal took a list of states, sorted them alphabetically, then converted them to two-letter abbreviations, which are no longer in alphabetical order. State names and state abbreviations don't always sort identically. Now you know.
Swap On!
My VPS kept freezing the moment I published a Ghost post, and support swore no one else had issues. Turns out MySQL was eating all the RAM on a box with swap disabled by default. So: enable swap, and don't forget the fstab entry so it survives a reboot.
The Vision Pro I Want
Apple could build the Vision Pro I actually want today: no front screen, no AR, no battery, no wireless. Just a light, comfortable headset that projects my monitor over a Thunderbolt cable. That alone would let them ship the headless, portable computer I'd really pay for.
License to Trim
I've always found it baffling that haircutting is licensed by the state. A chat with a forty-year barber sent me down the history: Minnesota in 1897, fears of "barber's itch," and mostly economic gatekeeping against immigrant competition. If you don't like your cut, go elsewhere.
One Time, Long Ago…Cheez-It
After a 70-mile bike ride I rewarded myself with a box of Cheez-Its from Walmart. Soon my lips puffed up like a bee sting. I wrote it off, until it happened again. I phoned the number on the box, couldn't surrender the evidence (I'd eaten it), and never bought them there again.
Unexpected Advent Reading
10:58am, two minutes to church. Pastor: "Curtis, are you guys ready for this?" Me: "Ready for what?" Turns out it was our family's turn for the Advent reading, per an email I never saw. It went fine. The kids were thrilled to light a candle.
Children and Communion
If the minister fences the table against unbelievers, why do we also exclude the baptized children of believers? Looking into paedocommunion sent me back to 1 Corinthians 11, where context, as always, is key, and one-off proof-verse hermeneutics is the constant danger.
Interviewing is a Perishable Skill
I'm not advocating job-hopping, but if your first interview in years is for that One Perfect Job, you'll probably fail, because interviewing is a perishable skill. They already believe you can do the work; now they have to like you, and that part comes from practice.
Children’s Church (or How to Fail Your Child)
After we moved, we toured Baptist and non-denominational churches varying wildly in music, preaching and communion, all sharing one mission: keeping children out of the worship service. From detached drop-off buildings to Veggie Tales daycare, just own it and call it what it is.
